Joy, divine spark of the Gods,
daughter of Elysium,
we enter your sanctuary,
drunk with fire.
Your magic reunites
what custom has sternly parted.
All men become brothers
where your gentle wings rest.
SCHILLER’S ODE TO JOY
Ecstasy—the Dionysian experience—may be intellectually unfamiliar. But in ecstatic expression we will recognize a long-forgotten part of ourselves that makes us truly alive and connects us with every living thing. In Greek myth that part of ourselves is represented by Dionysus.
As you read the myth of Dionysus in the next chapter, remember that it is a picture of the forces, behaviors, and instincts that shape our inner world. Dionysus is a complex figure who symbolizes the irrational world of our senses as it interacts with the rational world of rules and limitations.
Half-mortal, half-god, Dionysus had more epiphanies—more manifestations—than any other god. He could change his shape from lion to stag to goat to panther to man to god. Dynamic, powerful, ever changing, all these manifestations are valid representations of the archetype. In the myth you will meet many aspects of Dionysus: Dionysus the personification of divine ecstasy, who can bring transcendent joy or madness; Dionysus the goat—the capricious, unpredictable thrill of joy that makes us jump up and click our heels; Dionysus the personification of wine and its ability to bring either spiritual transcendence or physical addiction.
If this does not seem to you like the “ordinary” Greek god, you are not far off. The dynamic, volatile Dionysus was unique among the Olympians:
The characteristic of an Olympian god (patriarchal) in contrast to a mystery god (matriarchal) is that the Olympian form is rigidly fixed, and always human. He has lost his animal forms and his magical ability to transmute from one energy shape to anther. … The Olympian is idealized, rational, aloof, deathless—and so ultimately he seems too geometric to move us. … The Olympian does not evolve, he apotheosizes—to the blare of trumpets. This means he is not born from woman, or earth, or matter, but from his own absolute will. He represents a static perfection, in human form, incapable of transformation or ecstatic change; as a god, he is an intellectual concept. And so the energy exchange between all creatures and their magical-evolutionary power connection is broken: God becomes mere idea, and his world mere mechanism.
With all this in mind, let us read the myth of Dionysus. When you hear the story of his birth, you will wonder how he ever survived at all.